Importers of maize flour can now breathe a sigh of relief following government’s suspension of import licence amid a serious maize shortage in the country. The move comes at a time Malawi Police Service (MPS) and the Malawi Revenue (MRA) recently impounded about 500 bags of maize flour in Mchinji from traders using uncharted…
Angry timber millers in Viphya Plantation yesterday held demonstrations to interrupt operations at Raiply and force the company to return 2 000 hectares of trees that Raiply allegedly harvested. The millers, who started off from Mzuzu at around 12 noon yesterday to present their grievances to Viphya Plantation acting manager Custom Nyirenda, initially drove…
An analysis of the 2015/16 National Budget allocations to justice delivery institutions does not match output in terms of access to justice for vulnerable groups such as women and children. This was disclosed in Lilongwe yesterday when the Women’s Legal Resource Centre (Wolrec), an organisation which provides legal aid and assistance to women in Malawi,…
Deputy director of Local Government Services Douglas Mkweta has said integrity among members of Parliament (MPs), chiefs, councillors and key secretariat members at district councils is key to foster development. Mkweta made the remarks on Friday at Zomba District Council chamber during a three-day workshop aimed at disseminating local government guidelines for district councils when…
Seven months after President Peter Mutharika rejected a salary increment for himself, Vice-President and Cabinet ministers; government has raised the presidency’s perks by 61 percent. Government has also made members of Parliament (MPs) happy with a similar increase in daily subsistence allowances (DSAs). Civil servants too have not been left out of the per diem party that Capital Hill…
Amid a deficit in maize, some vendors are buying the staple grain from desperate farmers at K90 per kilogramme (kg) despite government setting the minimum buying price of K100 per kg. This is coming at a time the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee (Mvac) report estimated that 2.8 million Malawians—about 20 percent of the country’s population—face…
Eight years after the High Court ordered the Malawi Prisons Service (MPS) to halve congestion in the penal institutions within 18 months, the prisons with a capacity of 5 000 are now filled with 13 000 inmates. Officials have largely blamed the development on an archaic Prisons Act that does not provide room for decongestion.…
Members of Parliament (MPs) yesterday proposed and approved an amendment stipulating that consumers who fall prey to unscrupulous traders attempting to evade paying value added tax (VAT), should not be punished. Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe yesterday tabled the VAT Amendment Bill seeking to adjust penalties for businesses which fail to…
Members of Parliament (MPs) on Friday asked government to request commercial banks to open points of representation at major fast-growing trading centres. The MPs said the arrangement would also allow civil servants and businesspersons in the said areas to have access to banking facilities. Dedza North-West MP Alekeni Menyani (Malawi Congress Party-MCP) asked Minister of…
There is nothing wrong, says Speaker Finally, United Democratic Front (UDF) members of Parliament (MPs) have been given the go-ahead to relocate to the government benches in the National Assembly. Speaker of Parliament Richard Msowoya yesterday confirmed the new arrangement in an interview. However, the decision to move to government benches has not been popular…
The National Initaitive for Civic Education (Nice) Trust has expressed concern over the tendency by some members of Parliament (MPs) and councillors to delegate cronies to represent them at development meetings. Nice Trust says this infringes upon people’s right to accountable leadership. Nice Trust district civic education officer for Chikwawa, Joseph Chamambala, observed that it…
Leader of opposition in Parliament Lazarus Chakwera has described President Peter Mutharika as a hypocrite and that his government is trying to divert the attention of Malawians from real issues. Chakwera, addressing a news conference in Lilongwe on Monday where he reacted to the salary increments announced by Minister of Finance, Economic Planning and Development Goodall Gondwe,…
Vice, ministers and MPs all get hefty rises Government has raised the salary of President Peter Mutharika, his Vice Saulos Chilima and his 20 Cabinet ministers as well MPs by hefty percentages, Weekend Nation can reveal. This is despite the President promising Malawians in August that he had no intention of reviewing his salary “anytime…
Parliament is set to resume sitting next Wednesday when committees are expected to report back on their analysis of the K742.6 billion 2014/15 national budget before members of Parliament (MPs) begin debate. The arrangement follows the adoption of new Standing Orders which allow parliamentary committees to examine the budget allocations as proposed by Minister of…
When I read in Nation on Sunday of July 20, 2014, I noted a few things which notably showed (i.e. if implemented) that the interim government is not necessarily serious about safeguarding the taxpayer’s money. I am sensing laxity in the fiscal discipline. The electorate has been taken for a ride. This gesture inter alia…
Civil rights activist, Rafiq Hajat who is executive director for Institute for Policy Interaction (IPI) has said the absence of floor crossing by party-sponsored parliamentarians in the just-ended Parliament session means the country’s democracy has matured. Speaking in an interview last week, Hajat said though there are several independent parliamentarians who have announced their allegiance to political parties, the behaviour…
Barely 30 days in office where they have found a near bankrupt government failing to buy even drugs for hospitals, parliamentarians are demanding that their personal loan facilities be doubled, a move that could worsen Capital Hill’s cash-flow woes. National Assembly sources said on Friday that Members of Parliament (MPs) want their personal loan limit…
Malawi’s first meeting of the 45th parliamentary session adjourned today with members passing the $50 million (K1.2 billion) International Development Association (IDA) Bill. The $50million loan is also expected to support expansion of infrastructure and facilities at the public colleges, development and revision of curricula, staff development, but also procurement of teaching and learning materials.…
Parliament yesterday rejected a $50 million (about K20 billion) Loan Authorisation Bill for government to borrow funds from the World Bank to finance increasing access to higher education at the University of Malawi (Unima) colleges, vocational education provider Teveta and Mzuzu University (Mzuni). The rejection took government by surprise after it received overwhelming support from…
Immediate past National Assembly Speaker Henry Chimunthu Banda could get an unprecedented retirement package closer to that of ex-State vice-presidents thanks to a “Former Speaker” office that the Legislature has created. In separate interviews yesterday, Acting Clerk of Parliament Roosevelt Gondwe, Secretary for Human Resource Management and Development Sam Madula and Chimunthu Banda himself confirmed…